By Staff
BURLINGTON, ON March 6, 2013 The city has a new fire chief – Tony Bavota will take on the role of chief of the Burlington Fire Department, effective immediately.
Tony Bavota appointed Chief of the Burlington Fire department.
Bavota has been a deputy fire chief with the Fire Department since 2009 and is in his 18th year of employment with the City of Burlington. His progressive responsibilities within the department include acting platoon chief, fire captain, acting captain, firefighter and infrastructure project manager. Bavota also gained extensive corporate experience while working in the city manager’s office on a job rotation as the assistant to the city manager.
Bavota is going to have to rely heavily on his city hall experience to get the fire fighters he feels he needs and to prepare Burlington for a different kind of preparation. In the next five years the city will see a 22 storey structure on Lakeshore Road and, if the way the city manager is talking, we can expect to see more in the way of high-rise structures.
High rise buildings create different challenges for fire fighters. This multi-storey building on Maple was completed recently and the 22 storey development on Lakeshore Road mean different, expensive equipment and time to train the men who will man it.
The Strata on Maple Avenue is an example. These buildings require different kinds of firefighting equipment – and the stuff isn’t cheap. Then firefighters have to be trained in how to use the equipment.
Before joining the Burlington Fire Department, Bavota worked with the Guelph Police Service, as a constable and tactical response unit member.
Bavota earned a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Western Ontario in 2011, and holds a diploma in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts-Economics Degree.
Acting Chief Dave Beatty will return to his role as deputy chief. “We thank Acting Chief Beatty for his continued leadership. The fire department management team continues to work effectively together throughout the transition period and I sincerely appreciate their collective efforts,” said Phillips.
The fire department has a combined urban and rural area covering 189 square kilometres that has to be covered. They provide public education, fire prevention, suppression and emergency response in Burlington. The Burlington Fire Department currently has 202 full-time staff and a complement of 65 volunteers serving the community.
The previous fire chief left the Burlington fire department for greener pastures where he didn’t have the ongoing battle with city council for the resources he felt he needed.
Firefighters in Ontario are exceptionally well-organized and aren’t shy about showing their muscle to make their point. In the last provincial election they made it very clear they were supporting the government. They have been known to attend city budget review meetings as a group and to attend at Council meetings sitting as a group in Council chambers. .
